The fruit of the Spirit is an encounter with God that leads us into an ongoing experience of Him, which opens us up to the fullness of who God is for us.
As we learn the difference between our soul and our spirit, we can then live in the Spirit. Once we learn how to live in the Spirit, then we can walk in the Spirit, and begin moving in the gifts of the Spirit
Living in the Spirit means it is no longer us doing the living, but we are practicing the presence of God, and allowing His Spirit to live through us.
We are allowing the Spirit of God to direct our thinking; we are allowing the Spirit of God to govern our emotions. We are giving the Spirit of God control over our soul, so that we can be led by His Spirit.
This is a process and it takes practice, we have to grow spiritually, and as we reach a place of maturity we will be led by the Spirit. Then the scripture that says it in no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me will be a reality in our daily lives.
A walk in the Spirit is a flow of the Spirit in our hearts, motivating us and moving us. In order for this to happen we have to be aware of our spirit so that it is continually drawing on the life of God in us. God lives in us, and our spirit must be actively communing with Him.
In order to live in the spirit we have to learn how not to live in self. Our self life is in the realm of our soul. It is in the realm of our soul that we have self consciousness. All the manifestations of self are in the realm of the soul. Our self gets puffed up with self importance, or self-pity. The ego of our mind has all kinds of thoughts concerning self.
When we learn how to live in the spirit, we recognize all the thoughts we have concerning ourselves. We have to learn how to die to self, so that we are no longer aware of self, but aware of God in us.
Two lives cannot exist in the same space, so we have to learn how to live in God and not in self.
As we begin to practice living in the spirit, we will recognize the thoughts we have concerning ourselves and will learn how to disconnect from them.
To live in the spirit we have to practice the fruit of the Spirit.
God is love. The fruit of the Spirit is divine love; it is on a higher level than human love. We first of all have to accept that God loves us and all his thoughts towards us are loving. He has no negative thoughts towards us.
When we find ourselves not liking a person, we recognize, these thoughts and feelings are a manifestation of the self life, so we look to the lord for the infilling of His love.
We have to disconnect from self, until in our awareness of the Spirit of God we find His love flowing. We let God love people through us. Love is exclusive affection. Love is about cherishing, it is about treasuring. It is about having a regard for someone with benevolence attached. It is about taking delight in someone or something, so that we cause that person to feel beloved just because we have become a friend in their life. Love is the tangible favor and goodness of God. Love demonstrates loving-kindness.
When our spirit is alive to God, we become aware of His Spirit in us, we become aware of His nature, the divine nature which is the fruit of the Spirit and all the fruit of the spirit is interrelated, so we experience all of it, we just tune into a certain aspect of it.
The only thing that blocks the fruit of the Spirit is our awareness of self. So if we are not continually experiencing the fruit of the Spirit, we will learn the different manifestations of self, which dilutes, obstructs or cut us off from the flowing of the life of God in us.
But we start with the love of God, if we don’t feel loved of God, then some area of the self life is blocking it from flowing in us and through us.
God is love so we have to focus on the love of God and become aware of it. We have to practice the joy of the lord.
Joy is who God is. Rejoicing is our response to who God is. Joy is about an intensity of gladness, it is about delight. We cannot stop from smiling and expressing it in some way. Joy is bigger than us and it is bigger than all our circumstances. We are to count everything as joy; we have to flood our circumstances with the joy of the Lord. Overwhelm our situation with the happiness of God.
If we are not experiencing the joy of the Lord, then some area of our self life is blocking it, what are we thinking about? Something that has to do with self. We have to get our mind off of ourselves and back on the lord. We have to get out of self and into God.
When we are worshiping, we like to rejoice in the fact that God is the happiest person we know. Joy is about elation, it is about having a sense of wonder. It is taking absolute pleasure in someone or something, it is being jubilant, it is being cheerful, triumphant, and celebratory. It is about rejoicing over something.
When we are practicing joy we are learning the art of celebration. What are we celebrating? God is for me, He is with me, He is on my side, He is in me, He surrounds me, everything about Him is for me and He will help me. I am rejoicing in the fact that I know what God is like.
Peace is a state of being quite, it is about learning to be calm, to be restful, it is a freedom from disturbance, it is an ease of mind. It is about stillness, having an inclination towards calm, so that when we walk into a troubled situation, we bring the peace of God with us. When we walk into a room it should make a difference in the atmosphere. Peace is about being undisturbed, untroubled, content, composed, and free from strife. All the fruits of the Spirit are encounters and experiences that make us like Jesus.
Patience is the quality of being able to persevere under pressure with a good heart and mind. It is about endurance without complaint, not easily provoked, having a calm expectation, being even tempered. Patience is a quiet persistence in the nature of God.
Kindness is about being considerate, being thoughtful towards someone, being benevolent, compassionate, and generous.
Goodness is about looking after someone else’s welfare, acting with honor, being favorable towards someone, blessing them, lifting them up, and giving them a divine advantage.
Faithfulness is about being consistent, constant, unceasing, loyal, and reliable. Faithfulness is unwavering, keeping our word, being trustworthy.
Gentleness is about having humility, being meek, merciful, sweet spirited, and tenderhearted.
Self-control is the result of practicing the fruit of the Spirit so that we are enabled to walk in the spirit and not in the soul.